Bethel Takes The Master's College in Five Games
ST. PAUL, Minn. (Nov. 29, 2007) – The National Christian College Athletic Association’s (NCCAA) National Volleyball Tournament kicked off with a bang on Thursday, as Bethel College (Ind.) and The Master’s College (Calif.) took their pool’s first match to five games, with the Pilots from Bethel claiming the 3-2 victory (27-30, 27-30, 30-21, 30-23, 15-9).

After losing the first two games, Bethel made a comeback behind senior Erica Bruxvoort, who had a team-high 23 kills in the match. Stephanie Harwood and Christie Odreman were on the same page for the Pilots, as they contributed 15 and 13 kills, respectively. Bruxvoort was Bethel’s Pilot light though, as she amassed a .288 attacking percentage while sharing a team-leading six blocks (one solo, five assisted).

Ashley Pagel had 59 assists for Bethel, while Harwood tallied 28 of her team’s 139 digs in the match.

Bethel hit .150 as a whole in the contest, closing the decisive fifth game out with a .294 rate to give the second-seeded team a win in their only match for Thursday.

Third-seeded Master’s was led by Amanda Roleder, who had 23 kills of her own in the match. After coming out strong in Games 1 and 2, the Mustangs had more attacking errors than they did kills in the fourth and fifth games, yielding the match to Bethel.

Christy Swagerty and Amber Harder had 32 and 23 sets, respectively, in Master’s 6-2 offense. Leslie Windham had a whopping 44 digs in the match.

Both teams will be in action again tomorrow, as all squads from Pool B are scheduled to play two matches on Friday. Pool A’s teams took on two matches on Thursday, and will receive a one-match relief come Friday.